Birmingham City continued their unbeaten start to life back in the Championship by securing a 1-0 home victory against strugglers Oxford United. It leaves the Blues in a strong fifth place position as they prepare to end August with an away trip to face a recently-relegated Leicester City team at the King Power Stadium.
Elsewhere, West Brom under new boss Ryan Mason, have also started well with two wins and a draw from their opening three matches. The Baggies were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Portsmouth but have shown plenty of encouraging signs in the early weeks of Mason’s time in charge with wins over Wrexham and Blackburn Rovers.
Both sides have plenty of work to do to secure promotion this term but in the early weeks have shown the quality to suggest they can be in contention come the end of the season, particularly with a few strong transfers. But what have the experts at OPTA made of each Championship team so far? Here based on the opening three games, we take a look at their final predicted league table and each team’s projected points tally.
9. Norwich City - 16th
Norwich City were backed by the bookies to compete for the play-offs. However, OPTA suggest a bottom half finish with just 60 points. | Getty Images
10. Portsmouth - 15th
Pompey are expected to beat the drop once again. OPTA backs John Mousinho's side to pick up a total of 60 points. | Getty Images
11. Blackburn Rovers - 14th
OPTA predicts a respectable mid-table finish for Blackburn Rovers. Predicted points tally: 62. | West Bromwich Albion FC via Gett
12. Swansea City - 13th
Swansea are expected to secure a solid mid-table finish, picking up a total of 63 points. | Getty Images